Lucas stood in the dimly lit and grim woodland with his companions at his side, all of them looking in the direction of the woman whose name he had just called out.
She seemed familiar to a few but only Lucas knew her due to his brief time in Galos. Juliet, the strong young woman of noble birth. Quiet, intimidating and in his eyes, beautiful.
Yet now, before his eyes, she looked vastly different than before. Her once golden like hair that cascaded beautifully down her back was scruffy and unkempt, giving her more of a wild look.
Hearing her name called, Juliet turned her head slowly, neither surprised nor excited. The two's eyes met but Juliet said nothing and just began to walk away.
"Wait!" Lucas abruptly called out and began running in her direction. "Where are you going? We have come this way with others and-." Before Lucas could finish his sentence, Juliet turned around at a freakish speed and slammed her foot into the ground with great force.
The earth trembled and the unprepared Lucas lost his balance and stumbled to his knees. As he tried to get to his feet, Juliet approached and looked down at him with no emotion, her thoughts a mystery.
"If you follow me, I'll kill you." She warned, her tone carrying a seriousness that Lucas had never heard before.
Confusion flashed across his face and he wanted to inquire more but immediately after saying that one sentence, Juliet raised her leg and landed a clean kick on Lucas's chest.
He got sent back flying in the direction of his group, who watched the scene with terror in their eyes. Lucas was someone already considered capable in their eyes despite his common origins and yet… he couldn't fight back at all.
After kicking him away, Juliet's facial expression changed. She looked like she was in pain and held her abdomen but only briefly before gritting her teeth and walking away.
'I need more.' She thought to herself and soon her figure vanished into the darkness.
Only after they were sure she was gone did the others rush to Lucas's aid. The kick alone had already caused damage but the landing had also caused him to hurt his head, leaving him unconscious.
They rushed back to camp where a scene was roused as many immediately assumed a problem had risen. Many worried that perhaps it was a dangerous creature that hunted humans nearby.
Such a scene attracted the attention of Anastasia and Henry to the scene, where they immediately questioned those who had gone with Lucas.
After hearing the details, both Henry and Anastasia looked perplexed by what they had heard. With Anastasia muttering, "This makes no sense. She's always been strange but to attack for no reason…"
Henry shared in his thoughts as he too couldn't think of a plausible reason for what had happened.
"This place changes people, we've seen that first hand. So maybe…" Henry's suggestion was more feasible, given in the time of their travels, they had seen some of the worst sides humanity had to show.
It wasn't completely impossible for Juliet to have become that way but Anastasia wasn't the type to believe unless sure of something herself. But with bigger worries on her mind, she could only put the matter to rest for now.
Meanwhile, back on Aron's airship, trouble began to brew.
Like usual, he was in his study, going over some of the knowledge within his legacy ring and trying his best to understand it. All of a sudden, he heard Jagu's voice call to him from outside his quarters.
"Aron, we have a problem." Jagu spoke calmly but the urgency in his voice could be heard.
Aron retracted his gaze from the piece of scribbled paper on his desk and immediately rushed to the door. Upon opening it, a heavy stench of fear invaded his nose and caused him to frown.
"Let's go." He didn't bother asking what the problem was and just moved quickly with Jagu towards the deck of the airship, once there, he found a small crowd, almost the entire crew present.
His arrival didn't even catch notice as everyone had their gazes glued to the skies.
Without asking why, he tilted his head upward and his eyes immediately widened as the image of a gigantic figure mirrored in his irises.
Far above them in the dark and gloomy clouds above, something could be seen moving, something big, more than five times the size of their airship at the very least.
Aron's attention was only broken when Rose appeared before him and asked, "What is that thing?"
The question she posed had everyone look his way in hopes for an answer but his face remained grim. "A bird of prey, a really big one at that. We'll be fine as long as,-!!"
His answer was cut short when all of a sudden, the once steady flying giant, erupted from the skies and released an ear-piercing screech. One so terrifying that even Aron needed to cover his ears lest his ear drums burst.
In the next moment, a terrifying scene unfolded.
The head of an enormous bird caused the skies the clouds to scatter, revealing its majestic form containing bright red and white feathers with piercing green eyes.
Although it was a few kilometers from them, it's sheer size made it look all the closer as it began to descend to the peaceful looking oceans below.
Some looked relieved at this but Aron's visage worsened and he shouted. "A void beast… and Its about to dive, everyone get back inside!"
He spoke while already retreating, a void beast stood at the eighth tier among beasts, an absolute powerhouse in most regions of Limbo with little to no rivals.
What really had Aron worried, was the fact this particular beast looked close to evolving towards the ninth tier, making it a creature he wouldn't want to face if he could help it.
With he himself being in seventh tier and closing in on the eighth, he was at least confident he could get away, but that was only true under favorable conditions.
The open ocean beneath them made this less than favorable.
Seeing Aron rush back inside, others didn't hesitate. For many, including Rose, this was the first time seeing him look seriously worried.
Once inside, the atmosphere felt heavy and Aron turned to Scarlet and spoke with urgency, "Get us away from that thing, the direction doesn't matter just do it quick."
Scarlett didn't ask and just run back to the control cabin while Rose approached Aron, if he had reason to worry then so did, she. But before she could ask anything, the devastating screech once again rumbled, sounding like thunder in the eye of a storm.
In the next moment, the airship shook violently but not from the creature's screech and instead from Scarlett abruptly changing directions.
Many stumbled while those quicker just found balance by clinging to the walls.
"Dammit, this won't work." Aron clicked his tongue and moved to a window that allowed him to see the scene outside.
The creature looked more like it was in free fall than diving, something that big simply didn't look able to fly and yet in the next moment, its beak broke the surface of the ocean as the rest of its body sunk with immense force.
In its wake, the ocean shook and the water splashed upward, creating an artificial tsunami that rivaled the size of mountains.
Others followed in Aron's actions and looked out the many windows in that hallway, all seeing the same thing and sharing looks of horror.
Still, many clung to hope and felt the airship could fly higher and avoid the incoming wave but Scarlett's next words shattered these dreams. "Everyone, brace for impact, we can't avoid that."
Aron turned his gaze away from window and faced Rose, "Use your scouters to help propel the airship towards land."
He remained vague as time wasn't on his side to explain. His mind was already churning as he rushed to the control cabin where a panicked Scarlett was trying her best to steer the airship towards the western continent.
Her instincts proved right as many would have tried to steer upward in panic.
"Look, be straight with me, can we make it?" For the first time, Scarlett looked shaken, her entire figure exuding fear.
Aron didn't even walk in and just passed an instruction. "Just fly in the direction of land as quick as possible, focus on that and nothing else."
His words short but clear, Scarlett nodded and took a deep breath before tightening her grip on the steering panel, despite her hands shaking nonstop.
Without a word, Aron returned in the hall where much of the crew gathered but didn't stop and walked toward the door leading to the deck.
Anyone could tell that if that wave hit, anyone up there would either die instantly or get hit off.
"Where are you going?" A concerned Claudia asked, she already knew Aron wasn't the type to put himself above others so her first instinct was that he was planning to save his own life.
On any other day, she may have been right, but this situation didn't really have such an option, something he revealed as he replied, "To make sure we don't get killed."
His answer was brief and he stepped out, causing some to regain hope but not much.
Rose also couldn't shake the look of unsurety plastered on her face and just walked away as well to do her part while muttering, "Whatever you're planning, it better work."
Aron walked onto the deck where it already felt like a torrential storm was pouring down. He walked toward the rear and stood near the guard rail while looking directly at the towering wave approaching.
"This better work."
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